A famous writer questions all the principles that governed his life when his wife disappeared without leaving any trace. As he travels from Paris to Central Asia, he crosses the steppe, his desert, his magic and his legends to find the one that gives more meaning to his life. Paulo Coelho revisits ancient myths and distant traditions to evoke the themes of the quest for love, eternal woman, pilgrimage, the search for self and the origins of belief. He uses autobiography to ironically describe the state of the modern world, talk about freedom and solitude, and wonder about the future of man in search of benchmarks, love and spirituality.